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The Treasure of Niverbo
The Treasure of Niverbo is the first quest for the party of seven. In this quest, all of the characters have been tasked with finding the Treasure of Niverbo with the crew of the Scarlet Maiden in order to stop the Screaming Blight Plague sweeping Estiwan. Characters Playable Characters * Journey Bloodbow * Lapis Emberpike * Phoenix Zuchrud * Surtucuras Leapacmec * Warbler * Yuki Beckstrom * Zanatina Dolf Non-Playable Characters In order of appearance * Mayor Woodengloom * Guard Captain Monkley * Kadric Thindrell * Asuga * Twister Tallgull * Kessa Yungroot * Crew of the Scarlet Maiden Plot Session I The quest opens in the town of Whalehale in mid-autumn, just as the sun is beginning to set. The characters find themselves wandering around the town, each with their own purpose for being there. Yuki stood on the edge of town, talking to a group of small children about how wonderful the weather was and how nice it was to be a part of it. Journey, meanwhile, stood nearby and watched silently. Warbler kept mostly to the shadows, watching the excitement and festivities of the town pass him by. Surtucurus also kept to the shadows, but for a much different reason. He noticed Warbler walking through the town, and instantly became suspicious of the kenku. He knew of their reputation and scavengers and thieves, only looking out for themselves, and immediately made it his business to keep an eye on him. Meanwhile, Phoenix, stopping in Whalehale on her way to visit some relatives in Testa, ran yet again into the Watermelon Man while in the marketplace and purchased some of his watermelons. Lapis happened to find her way to the marketplace as well and locate a salmon stand where she proceeded to purchase one large salmon. This, however, caught the attention of Warbler, who approached Lapis and informed her that there was another, cheaper salmon stand nearby, and queried why she would be buying such overpriced salmon. Warbler and Lapis proceeded to talk for a while, making light and polite conversation. Phoenix, in the meantime, noticed Surtucuras and recognized him from their previous adventure. Calling him over to her, Surtucuras then ordered Phoenix to remain quiet, as he was trying to keep an eye on "the kenku lurking through the town." Lapis, however, heard Surtucuras's statement on the kenku, and instantly knew what he was talking about. Immediately confronting him, Lapis questioned Surtucuras as to why he was stalking Warbler through the town when he had quite obviously done nothing to him. Hearing of Surtucuras's actions towards Warbler, Phoenix also grew angry with him and proceeded to question him as to why he would do that. Warbler also joined, asking about his actions. The four quickly began to climb into an argument, which most likely could have gone on for a while had it not been for the unfortunate interruption. While the four quarreled, a mysterious abandoned house on the hill began to sway in the wind, before the door burst open and a man came running out. He was covered from head to toe in red boils, one eye swollen shut and the other bloodshot red. He raced out of the house and into the marketplace, practically rabid and sparking fear in the citizens. Lapis, Surtucuras, and Phoenix were all stunned and stopped their arguing for a moment to marvel at the sight of the man. Warbler, however, leaped into action and pinned the man to the ground, becoming entangled with him and tumbling down a cliff towards the sea. At the edge of the cliff, Warbler and the man stopped rolling and Warbler proceeded to shake him, trying to get him to speak to see if he could tell him what was wrong. The man, however, only fell still on the grass as he began to foam. By this point, many of the townsfolk had seen what had happened and come to watch the scene, including Phoenix, Surtucuras, Yuki, and Journey. Lapis, however, took notice of the house from which the man had burst and instantly became suspicious. Sneaking away from the rest of the crowd, Lapis climbed the hill towards the house, peering through the open door and finding a room, completely empty save for a bed frame with an empty mattress, a nightstand, and a single journal. However, when Lapis came closer to inspect the journal, she noticed that the pages were empty. She still, however, chose to keep it with her. Looking around some more, Lapis noticed a trap door in the corner. Pulling with all her might, the trap door suddenly sprang open and revealed a set of stairs leading down into what looked like a cellar. Climbing down, Lapis found herself standing on a dirt floor where there were only a few things: a shelf with a blue potion, and a skeleton chained to the wall. His clothes were fairly degraded and his bones were covered with dust; as it seemed he had been dead for quite some time. After closer inspection, Lapis found a single name sewn into the threads of his clothes: Niverus. Having seen enough, Lapis climbed the ladder and left the house, returning to town just as Mayor Woodengloom was approaching. Mayor Woodengloom arrived with Captain Monkley of the city guard and demanded information on what had happened. The group then delved into cacophony as they tried to explain what happened before Warbler finally took the lead and explained what had happened to the mayor. Captain Monkley's face turned sour for a moment, and he turned away from the crowd to whisper to Mayor Woodengloom. Mayor Woodengloom nodded, then turned around to face the crowd and explained that there was to be a newly imposed curfew, and everyone was to return to their homes immediately. All the townsfolk begrudgingly agreed, but the party stayed where they were. They did not live here and therefore had nowhere to go. Captain Monkley instead had a guard escort the party to the Giantmantle Inn, where a young dwarf woman greeted them at the desk. The woman began to take the party members around to their rooms, locking them inside so that they could not get out. However, a few of them managed to find a few loopholes. Warbler drew his dagger and sneakily stuck it into the door just as the woman was leaving so that she didn't notice, while Phoenix attempted to melt the lock off the door, but was unfortunately unsuccessful. However, she did manage to escape the room by successfully picking the lock with her dagger. Lapis, on the other hand, broke the window by sending her fist through it and leaped outside, where she sat and tried to plan what to do. Surtucuras, however, had a different approach to things. Instead of trying to sneak around the woman, he approached her head-on, with intentions of strangling her unconscious so that he could escape. However, things didn't quite go as planned. Surtucuras underestimated his own strength, and instead, accidentally strangled the woman to her death. Everyone except Lapis was in the hall when this happened, and witnessed Surtucuras killing the woman. Immediately, everyone began to panic. Phoenix left the inn altogether and stepped outside, where she crouched in the grass and began to panic. Journey and Yuki could only stand there, stunned silent. Meanwhile, Zanatina could only watch in horror as tears streamed down her face. Warbler, however, proceeded to take action using his monk training. He stepped forward, crouching beside the woman and praying for her to return to the afterlife, all the while glaring and Surtucuras. Surtucuras only watched, guiltily, but the party knew that they could not simply leave the body there. For a while, they all tried to plan what to do, until Zanatina piped up. She mentioned that being a gnome, she could cast the spell Minor Illusion and might be able to stage a diversion where the woman fell to her death. However, she strongly suggested turning themselves in instead and explaining what happened. Everyone urged Zanatina to cast the Minor Illusion spell, and Zanatina reluctantly agreed, preparing to cast it. However, while she was casting, the spell backfired and instead, all that came out was a scream. The scream instantly alerted the city guard, and immediately a group of five of them came rushing towards the inn. Lapis, however, took notice of this. Already frustrated with the idea of being captured like dogs, and wanting to escape the town, Lapis raised her hands and called upon the forces of the ocean to aid her. Long tendrils of water began slithering out of the water like snakes, creeping up on the guards and wrapping around their heads like bubbles. The guards instantly began to drown where they stood, grasping at their throats and falling to their knees until they lay on the ground, dead. While Lapis stood there, breathing hard and taking in what she had done, there was the sound of slow clapping approaching her, and a voice saying "well, well, well..." Whipping around, Lapis caught sight of a young man with well-groomed yet messy red hair, a splash of freckles, and bright blue eyes. He donned a sky-blue sleeveless vest complete with golden buttons, a white undershirt, black pants, and knee-high black boots. He went over and inspected the bodies, saying how he "expected Lapis to kill them sooner," and how he "didn't think he would have to wait this long." Lapis, obviously confused, asked who the man was and how he knew her name. The man only gave a mysterious smile and introduced himself as Kadric Thindrell, and how he "couldn't wait until they met again." Session II Back inside the Giantmantle Inn, the rest of the party had just completed burning the body of the dwarf woman to hide the proof and were now attempting to decide what to do next. Warbler suggested that they go and find the captain of the city guard, Captain Monkley, and interrogate him, as he seemed to know what was going on here. The rest of the party agreed, and when they went outside they ran into Lapis and Phoenix. The two of them asked what they were doing and immediately wanted to come along; Lapis so she could get away from the scene of the crime, and Phoenix for the pure exhilaration of another adventure. Everyone else agrees to let them come along, and decide on a plan for breaking into Mayor Woodengloom's house and confronting Captain Monkley. In the end, it was decided that Warbler, Surtucuras, and Phoenix would go and storm the house, while Lapis, Yuki, Journey, and Zanatina stood outside and kept watch. Warbler and Surtucuras were the stealthiest out of their party, and if they got into trouble, Phoenix was the most charismatic out of all of them and could find a way to persuade themselves out of whatever situation they got themselves into. Sneaking around to the side of the house, Warbler handed Phoenix the tubular cap to his dagger and Phoenix held her hand up to it while setting her hand aflame, thus creating a hot laser that sliced through the glass, leaving a circular hole of which she, Warbler, and Surtucuras could leap through. The three of them stepped into what seemed to be the mansion's parlor, but they couldn't hear any talking on this floor. Instead, they all moved to the next floor, where they could only hear someone writing in one room and what sounded like the mayor talking with someone else. Curious, Phoenix, Warbler, and Surtucuras crept forward in an attempt to try and get a listen in, but while sneaking over, Phoenix accidentally bumped into a table and knocked a lamp off, instantly sending it shattering to the floor. Warbler quickly rushed to hide behind the door while Surtucuras hid in a closet as the door opened and the mayor, as well as one other man, stepped out. The mayor, obviously confused as to what this girl was doing in his house, demanded an answer. Phoenix, trying to think of an answer, finally pulled out a watermelon that she had bought from the Watermelon Man and offered it to the mayor, saying that she was sorry for being a burden on his investigation, and had come to bring him a watermelon to apologize. Mayor Woodengloom instantly bought it, taking her watermelon and slapping it a few times. However, while he was doing this, the thought came to him as to how exactly Phoenix had gotten into his house, and he got around to asking her. Phoenix immediately began stuttering as she scrambled for an answer, and while she did so, Warbler slowly crept out from behind the door and grasped his claws around Mayor Woodengloom's throat, as well as the man he was with, rendering them both unconscious. With now only a little time left, Phoenix, Warbler, and Surtucuras rushed up the stairs to the third level of the house, where they finally came across a door with a label over it that read "Guard Captain Monkley." Immediately, the three of them prepared to go inside, but they already heard voices inside, and the light was on. Pressing their ears up against the door, the small group heard what seemed to be Captain Monkley's voice, but it was muffled and garbled, as though he had been gagged. Alongside his, there was another voice in there, a female's, talking to him and making threats. Wondering what was going on, Surtucuras leaned down to pick the lock, and the three of them stepped inside, clearly shocked at what they saw. When they went into the house, Phoenix, Warbler, and Surtucuras had been prepared to take down the captain of the guard with all force needed, but it appeared that someone else had beat them to it. Captain Monkley sat tied up in his chair, a gag in his mouth while another woman stood over him. She was a kitsune; a medium-sized species bearing a close likeness to foxes. The young kitsune donned a dark brown tunic tied around the waist with a belt with two dagger sheaths on either side, long brown pants, and straps wrapped around her two bottom paws. When the group came in, the kitsune immediately unsheathed her daggers, but slowly lowered them again when she realized that all of them looked like foreigners from the town, and none of them were wearing the guard's uniform. Confused, she went on to ask who they all were, and Phoenix explained that they had come to kidnap and interrogate Captain Monkley. The kitsune then explained that that was what she was just doing. After a few moments of confusion, it became clear that the four of them had come for the same purpose, but one of them had beat them there first. Laughing at the irony of the situation, the kitsune woman held out her hand and introduced herself as Asuga. Bringing a metal orb out of her pocket, Asuga spoke into it and ordered two people called Twister and Kessa to stop what they were doing and come here. Within moments, two more people entered the room. The first was a young man with pale blue skin and wispy white hair that floated and swirled like clouds, while the other was a taller woman with a splash of freckles, auburn hair, and slightly pointed ears. The blue man introduced himself as Twister, an air genasi, while the girl who was apparently Kessa remained silent and watched. Twister, at the sight of Phoenix, another genasi, immediately broke into a grin and shook Phoenix's hand profusely before Asuga interrupted them. She went on to ask the three of them about just what they were doing here, and Warbler responded, telling the entire story from the moment he first spoke to Lapis to how they found themselves in the room now, leaving out no details. After Warbler was done, there was a moment of silence in the room, before Asuga gave an amused smile and shook her head, chuckling at how much trouble they were in, having killed seven people and rendering two others unconscious. However, Kessa chose that moment to butt in, tapping Asuga on the shoulder to get her attention and signing to her that if the mayor and the other man were downstairs, and they were up here talking all this time, Mayor Woodengloom could be waking up any second. Now that they were all quiet, everyone besides Kessa listened and could finally hear the sound of shuffling downstairs. Immediately, they were all spurred into action. Asuga ordered Twister to break the window and send a twister down for them while telling Kessa to grab Captain Monkley. Both of them complied without hesitation, Kessa slinging Captain Monkley over her shoulder and Twister sucking in a deep breath, before blowing it all out a forceful wind, breaking the glass beneath the force. Moving his finger in a swirling pattern, a twister formed below leading down to the ground. Kessa jumped in first, with Asuga after her. Just as he was about to jump in, Twister turned around with a grin and said to the other three, "well? Are you coming?" Before they knew it, Phoenix, Warbler, and Surtucuras were all on the ground alongside Asuga, Twister, and Kessa, racing through the mansion grounds and getting the attention of Yuki, Lapis, Journey, and Zanatina. A garbled explanation later, Asuga led the group silently through the town, over to an alleyway where they finally dumped Captain Monkley on the ground and removed the gag around his mouth so that he could speak. Captain Monkley, after being intimidated by Journey, went on to explain that he, as well as the mayor, knew the plague was coming beforehand. He wouldn't go into detail, as he himself didn't know all the facts, but something had happened in the kingdom that should not have happened. Something was waking, and he and the mayor were doing their best to keep that fact hidden. When it became clear that that was all they were going to get out of the Captain, the party, Asuga, Twister, and Kessa walked over the docks and dumped him, still tied up, into the ocean where he drowned. Once all that was done, Twister turned the party's attention to a large brig with crimson red sails, two black swords in the shape of an X imprinted upon them. He explained that the ship was called The Scarlet Maiden ''and that if what Captain Monkley said was true, it would be best if they boarded it, considering they were set to sail come morning. Quickly climbing aboard, the party was hidden in a small wine cellar below deck. Phoenix and Yuki insisted on drinking, and Warbler joined them as well, considering he was a monk and it was his first time. Zanatina advised against it, but the three of them drank anyways. Yuki and Warbler, however, got drunk. '''Session III' In the morning, the party awakes in the wine cellar of the Scarlet Maiden, with Yuki and Warbler painfully hungover from alcohol consumption. Up above on the deck, voices are heard, although it's unsure what they're talking about. However, by sheer curiosity, the rest of the party convinces Zanatina to cast a spell in order to hide them so that they may go up onto the deck and see where all the issues are coming from. Zanatina reluctantly agrees and brings everyone except Yuki, Warbler, and Journey up onto the deck. There, they see Asuga, Twister, and Kessa, along with three of whom they do not recognize. The first is an old tabaxi with an eyepatch over one eye, along with a khajiit and a goliath with a metal arm. All three of them look down at Asuga, Twister, and Kessa disapprovingly and explain to them how irresponsible it was to sneak out during the night. Just then, Lapis, being allergic to cats, sneezes in the tabaxi's presence and Zanatina quickly rushes the party back below deck. However, they don't stay down there for long, as a moment later, Twister arrives and announces that it's safe for them all to come out. Sheepishly, the party emerges from the wine cellar to face the tabaxi, khajiit, and goliath. As they do, Asuga explains how they snuck out during the night to break into Mayor Woodengloom's house and steal a map from it. Digging it out of her pocket, Kessa hands the map over to the tabaxi, who scrutinizes it and hands it over to the khajiit. The tabaxi finally introduces himself as Broken Chains, or Captain Chains. The khajiit is is his quartermaster, Jotsien Sikahr, and the goliath is his first mate, Riverchaser. Captain Chains said that since they're already out at sea, the best option for now is to keep them aboard the ship and have them pull their own weight, or run the risk of being throwm overboard. The party quickly agrees, but not before Captain Chains assignes